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On his first day, in his newly minted role as Toronto’s most powerful politician, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly began what he hoped would be a healing process. Equipped with many of the mayor’s powers — transferred to him by a city council rebelling against Rob Ford’s excesses — Kelly spoke of outreach.

“I will make every effort to work with the mayor,” Kelly told reporters after announcing that 11 of Ford’s staff had chosen to join the deputy’s office, including Ford’s chief of staff and his director of policy. That leaves the mayor with nine.

As Kelly met with top bureaucrats to arrange an orderly transfer of resources and power, the accent was on co-operation. It was a refreshing and much-needed change from the chaos, rancour, bullying and buffoonery that have characterized Ford’s tainted mayoralty. Anyone concerned about future of Canada’s largest city should wish Kelly well in guiding the city forward.

This represents Toronto’s best chance of finally escaping the shadow of its unprincipled mayor – a man who has admitted smoking crack cocaine, buying drugs while in office, associating with known criminals, and being out-of-control drunk in public.

Ford and his bellicose brother, Councillor Doug Ford, have been a two-man wrecking crew, thoroughly trashing Toronto’s reputation by making it the butt of jokes world-wide. Relief will come only if they dial back their antics, accept the mayor’s reduced status, and work in the best interests of Toronto.

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Sadly, that’s unlikely to happen.

Ford angrily declared “outright war” after suffering a significant reduction in his authority on Monday. Kelly, a model of calm, said he would “rather wage peace.” But that’s hard to do in the face of hostile aggression.

Doug Ford told CNN that he and his brother would “make Chicago politics look like a tea party . . . it’s vicious.”

And the mayor indicated, in an interview with CP24 on Tuesday, that he had no intention of accepting his new, limited role. “If I have to bring in volunteers in my office, I’ll still function. I’m carrying on. I’m going to be going full out,” Ford said, adding councillors had “stabbed me in the back.’

All this does not bode well for the future. Toronto, in effect, has two rival chief executives. And, while Kelly is reasonable and ready to co-operate, Ford shows no sign of reason.

The provincial government may yet have to take action if Ford’s announced “war” against council opponents snarls city business and ends up hurting Toronto.

Municipal Affairs Minister Linda Jeffrey said on Tuesday that the province now considers Kelly the man in charge at city hall and would act accordingly. And Premier Kathleen Wynne has said her government is willing to provide new legislative “tools” expanding council’s power to deal with threats like Ford, should the city ask for them. To his credit, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has echoed this intent, saying that, if Toronto is unable to function, the province should take steps to provide stability.

New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath, however, has not made the same commitment. She’s still taking a wait-and-see attitude on whether the city deserves new disciplinary “tools” if council asks for them. But what more does she need to know?

The city that serves as Ontario’s economic engine has been mismanaged by a drunken, drug-taking bully with criminal associations, who won’t co-operate with police. If Toronto’s democratically elected council says it needs provincial help to deal with rogues like Ford, is it really a hard choice on whether to comply? Other party leaders have managed to take a firm stand. Why can’t Horwath?

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